Improve my Roscoes slap tone

[J fingaz]

I bought my Roscoe a couple years ago for the feel and fingerstyle tone. Since I've recently gotten more into slapping, I would like to try and get a much more open slap tone out of my Roscoe LG 3005 before I make the final decision to go for a trade. Stats:

Body - spanish cedar
Top - quilt maple
Fretboard - Ebony
Neck - purple heart
PUPs - standart Bartolini's

I recently swapped the bart preamp that came with the bass for the Aggie OBP-3 and I like the improvement, but slapping and popping still sounds very compressed to my ears. What's the general opinion of the Nordstrand pups? Maybe some Big singles would get the job done. Or do I just have to live with it because of the pup placement? Any other good ideas? I know i can't get it to sound like a jazz but maybe a little closer. Also interested in hearing from anyone with a Sadowsky 5 string possibly looking to trade.

[lowfreqman]

IMO, the Roscoe Barts are heavy in the lower mids and provide the slightly compressed vibe that lends itself so well to fingerstyle playing. I would suggest moving to pickups that are more open, like Bart CBs (dual coil) or Nordstrand DCs.

[Darkstrike]

I'd imagine Bart CB's, or especially Nordie Big Singles would make a job of it.

[Gard]

A couple ideas before we start doing body part transplants or trades (and my apologies in advance, if you've already used these...):

1) Favor the back pickup - but don't go all the way to it.
2) Don't be afraid of your midrange control. Scooped mids sound "OK" sitting in your bedroom, but are a sure fire way to VANISH in an onstage mix. I cannot bang this drum loudly or often enough: MIDRANGE IS YOUR FRIEND, USE IT!!! When I go see someone live, and I can't hear them in a mix, without fail, WITHOUT FAIL, when I look at their EQ settings, it's some variation of the "smiley face" graphic EQ, which is my definition of how to disappear in a mix.
3) A BIT of bass boost (especially with the Aggie 3-band) goes a LONG WAY.
4) EQ before volume - LOUDER does not always equal heard better. Clarity is more important.

Hope these ideas are some use...

[CrashClint]

Buy a Roscoe bass with the JJ pickup setup, this way you will have the killer P tone of your current bass and get the killer J tone with a bass like one of these below.

Just sayin

[evilgus]

I have nearly an identical bass and I LOVE the slap tone! What strings are you using on yours? I recently put some R Cocco stainless steels on mine and I'd say it improved the tone about 15%! They are known for being pretty bright, so probably ideal if you want more top-end and sizzle out of the Bart/Roscoe pickups. Actually, to my ears, they simply make EVERY bass sound better, my favourite strings EVER!

P.S: Gard is also right on the money with his advice, the 800Hz mid-range boost on the stock Bart pre-amp is really useful for bringing out the slap tone, especially in a loud band. 250Hz is great for fattening up fingerstyle, but the 800 is best for slap. (The OBP-3 is fairly similar, I guess, just more aggressive.) Just yesterday, I managed to get a really nasty Doug Wimbish (Warwick-like) slap tone out of my SKB with just a bit of EQ on the bass, I was quite surprised! (I could possibly have been favouring the bridge pickup at the time, can't remember.)

Cheers,

EG

[J fingaz]

Originally Posted by CrashClint

Buy a Roscoe bass with the JJ pickup setup, this way you will have the killer P tone of your current bass and get the killer J tone with a bass like one of these below.

Just sayin

My god those are sweet..

[J fingaz]

I've tried DR high beams, bootzillas, and fat beams. Also D'addario nickel, and steel strings.

[CrashClint]

My honest opinion would have been to keep he Bart preamp. Yeah, Yeah you need some mid to cut through and IMO the Bart can produce the mids to cut without being overbearing like the Aggie. You can wire the Roscoe Barts in Parallel and get more highs or even coil tap the pickups to get closer to the single coil sound. I would stay away from the Nords, just not worth the extra cost for what you get. I will tell you the Demeter Preamp sounds awesome with both the Roscoe Bart pickups and the Bart Classics.

To me, the Aero pickups are the best sounding pickups I have ever heard but be ready to drop $600 for a pair. I had the chance to A\B a set in two Warwick Stage 1 basses. One had the Aero's the other EMGs and the tone of the Aero pickups was just so much more defined while still maintaining warmth.

Those bass pics below are courtesy of Rocket Music, Greg has some really sweet basses at his shop.

[jbay]

Or wire a push pull pot in for single coil operation.

[bass12]

Originally Posted by Gard

A couple ideas before we start doing body part transplants or trades (and my apologies in advance, if you've already used these...):

1) Favor the back pickup - but don't go all the way to it.
2) Don't be afraid of your midrange control. Scooped mids sound "OK" sitting in your bedroom, but are a sure fire way to VANISH in an onstage mix. I cannot bang this drum loudly or often enough: MIDRANGE IS YOUR FRIEND, USE IT!!! When I go see someone live, and I can't hear them in a mix, without fail, WITHOUT FAIL, when I look at their EQ settings, it's some variation of the "smiley face" graphic EQ, which is my definition of how to disappear in a mix.
3) A BIT of bass boost (especially with the Aggie 3-band) goes a LONG WAY.
4) EQ before volume - LOUDER does not always equal heard better. Clarity is more important.

Hope these ideas are some use...

These are very good points.

[maurilio]

Originally Posted by CrashClint

My honest opinion would have been to keep he Bart preamp. Yeah, Yeah you need some mid to cut through and IMO the Bart can produce the mids to cut without being overbearing like the Aggie. You can wire the Roscoe Barts in Parallel and get more highs or even coil tap the pickups to get closer to the single coil sound. I would stay away from the Nords, just not worth the extra cost for what you get. I will tell you the Demeter Preamp sounds awesome with both the Roscoe Bart pickups and the Bart Classics.
.....

All very good advises, beside the Nordy comment (I know I may sound biased). I had Nordy (dualcoil, tho) with Bart pre and sounded very good.... but again we all have different "opinion" of what sounds good for us!
On my Roscoe I wired the pups with a switch for Par/SC/Ser and that makes a whole different story....

M

[maurilio]

Originally Posted by CrashClint

Buy a Roscoe bass with the JJ pickup setup, this way you will have the killer P tone of your current bass and get the killer J tone with a bass like one of these below.

Just sayin
........

Oh man, oh man.... this is sweet like honey!

[J fingaz]

Originally Posted by CrashClint

Buy a Roscoe bass with the JJ pickup setup, this way you will have the killer P tone of your current bass and get the killer J tone with a bass like one of these below.

Just sayin

How close to these come to getting the "jazz" slap tone?

[RocketMusic]

The 4-string is the "jazziest" of the three, it's a really killer bass. Of course, they all are.

[Darkstrike]

Isn't there a clip on your thread of you slappin' the 4 string, IIRC it was utterly wild.

[RocketMusic]

Yes, indeed, here is the 4-string with me slapping it on "Shaky Ground".

[LilRay]

Originally Posted by RocketMusic

Yes, indeed, here is the 4-string with me slapping it on "Shaky Ground".

Dammit!





God Bless, Ray

[Darkstrike]

Oh yeah! That's the one, Roscoe J GAS here I come.....

[CrashClint]

Originally Posted by RocketMusic

Yes, indeed, here is the 4-string with me slapping it on "Shaky Ground".

Pure funk to my ears!